


La petite fille de la mer

by Careza4251



Category: The X-Files
Genre: Cancer Arc, F/M, Light Angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-27
Updated: 2016-03-27
Packaged: 2018-05-29 09:13:28
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,650
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6368779
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Careza4251/pseuds/Careza4251
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Mulder, can I ask you something?" She asked after a few seconds of silence.  </p><p>"Sure, shoot" </p><p>Scully laid her head on the window of the car and closed her eyes "Does this place smell like the sea?" </p><p>"Yes"</p>
            </blockquote>





	La petite fille de la mer

**Author's Note:**

> The title comes from the song La petite fille de la mer by Vangelis. You should give it a try.

After solving the case of the disappeareance of seven children in a coastal town in Maine, Mulder was driving their rental to their motel with a sleeping Scully in the passenger's seat wrapped on both of their coats. 

The heat, even at night, was unbearable at this time of the year but he kept his urges to open his window because of Scully. With every passing day he could see her sickness consuming her, she was cold most of the time, her breaths were labored when she walked short distances, her makeup couldn't cover up how pale she looked now and just last week she'd told him during lunch that she wasn't able to taste food or sense any smell anymore. She had put her plate, almost full, aside and watching through the window of the diner she waited for him to finish his food. He couldn't finish eating either. To say he was terrified wasn't enough. 

With his sleeves bunched up on his elbows and tie hanging low on his neck, Mulder hoped to get fast to the motel so he could put Scully on her bed, then dive head first on the pool, take a cold shower in his room and put the AC at high level. He would do all of it to get away from the heat as quick as possible, but his hopes crumbled when he had to stop the car at a traffic jam. 

"Fucking great" he muttered between his teeth after blowing some air through his lips. 

He took a glance at Scully just in time to notice that she had started shivering. Mulder touched her forehead lightly to check her temperature and got worried because even with both coats on her and the hot weather she was still cold. Just when he started to consider turning the heater of the car on for her and probably die in the process, Scully stirred, catching his attention. 

"Where are we?" She asked groggily, covering her eyes with one hand. 

"Like ten or eleven miles from the motel" he replied "do you have a headache?"he asked next, after seeing her flinch when she took her hand off of her eyes. 

"Yeah" she whispered. It always meant trouble if Scully admitted she wasn't fine.

"Want some aspirin or ibuprofen? I have some in the glove compartment" 

"No, thanks, it'll pass" Scully took notice of the traffic and asked what'd happened. 

"I don't know, but do you want me to check?" 

Scully nodded once, being careful not to worsen her headache with the movement. Mulder nodded back and got out of the car, reluctant of leaving her alone but welcoming the cold breeze from outside. Scully flinched when the sound of the closing door hit her ears. 

She looked through her window and saw the beach beside them with a small fair and a decent ferris wheel near the shore. She smiled at the memories of going to beach fairs and carnivals with her parents and siblings, the smell of the sea, her sticky fingers after eating cotton candy, the sun warming her skin. In that moment she missed those days dearly. 

Mulder got back to the car looking better than how she'd seen him when she woke up. She'd felt extremely guilty when she saw him so sweaty and disheveled. Scully knew he hadn't turn the air conditioning on because of her. 

"Well," he started " it seems that we are going to be here for a while. There's an overturned truck ahead. Nobody got hurt but until someone takes it out of the way we can't get to the motel. This is the only road to get there. So what do you want to do?" Mulder could see a small smile spreading across Scully's lips. 

"Can you park the car at the beach?" She said looking back at the window. 

"Why, Miss Scully? Are you skinny dipping?" He teased her. 

"You can swim naked if you want, but I wanna go there" she said, stretching one of her fingers. 

Mulder followed Scully's pointing finger and saw the fair near the coast. He had been so focused on the heat and watching Scully that he hadn't noticed it's presence. 

"Ok, let's go" with no one else behind them, Mulder moved the car towards the beach and parked it near the place Scully pointed. 

As soon as the car stopped, Scully jumped out of it and tightened the sash of her coat to not let the warmth inside of her scape. Mulder got out of the car as well and in no time he was walking beside her. He took Scully's hand in his and intertwined their fingers winning a smile from her. 

They walked hand in hand through a wooden path towards the fair, reaching bright colors, music and people laughing, talking, workers of the fair in costumes playing pranks and giving helium balloons away. Scully laughed and blushed a little when a man in a cowboy costume gave her a balloon with little confetti stars inside of it and showered her with compliments. 

They continued walking in silence passing by a tent with a woman who was selling amazing constructions of stained glass. The light reflected on them gave Scully an angelic look that Mulder immediately captured in his memory. He would like to spent more time with Scully like this, just to see her smile and glow, making his world a better place. 

He's not ready to let her go. Not now, not ever. 

With her mind set on it for a while now, Scully dragged Mulder to the ferris wheel and he wouldn't admit it to her but he's afraid of these things and the creaking awful noises the rusty metal usually does. He rationalizes, though, and admits that he would do anything for her, she's given everything for him so getting her to the ferris wheel it's nothing compared to how much he owes her. 

The car they get in stopped at the top and Scully giggled at Mulder's panic face. He laughed then with her and relaxed a little. 

"Mulder, can I ask you something?" She asked after a few seconds of silence. 

"Sure, shoot" 

Scully laid her head on the window of the car and closed her eyes "Does this place smell like the sea?" 

"Yes" He answered in a brittle voice, a shiver running through his spine. He felt like he was losing her. 

"Describe it to me" she pleaded, her voice almost audible. She started to think about how the smell of the sea used to fill her with an indescribable joy and she couldn't stop the tears that came down her cheeks. 

"It's like a cold smell, acrid but welcoming" Mulder started "There's a briny characteristic to it, like where the forest meets the sea, perhaps?..." He kept describing as best as he could but fell short out of words when he saw her tears glistening with the moon light. 

"Please, continue" she said softly when she stopped listening to his voice. 

"I don't want to upset you" Mulder reached for her hand and squeezed it to make her look at him. 

"You are not upsetting me. I want to hear it" Scully finally opened her eyes and gave him the saddest smile he's ever seen. 

Mulder nodded and shifted so he could sit beside her. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and tried to remember words from his days of spitting poetry in Oxford in a class he took out of boredom. He did it better this time until Scully smiled fully. 

When the wheel stopped on the floor they got out holding hands. After taking a few steps away, Mulder kissed her on an impulse. Scully was surprised for a second but then kissed him back with a tenderness he didn't know she was capable of showing, at least not in public. 

"Scully please don't leave me" He found himself saying against her lips. 

Scully separated her lips from his and took Mulder's face in her hands. 

"I'll never leave you. I'll always be here" she whispered pressing her hand on top of his heart. 

"Please don't say that. Don't give up on me" His voice was quavery, his heart didn't want to stay in it's place. 

Scully gave him another sad smile and wrapped her arms around his waist, her next words muffled in his shirt. 

"I'm sorry you smell weird. It's my fault" 

"I smell weird?" He asked feigning feeling hurt. 

"Yes, but I like you like that, too" she chuckled and squeezed him to make him laugh, he did and before separating himself from her he kissed the top of her head. 

They walked back to the fair going through the tents they hadn't seen on their way to the car. They noticed that there was no traffic which meant that the truck had been lifted. 

Mulder drove to the motel still holding Scully's hand and only stopped holding it to get out of the car. When they got to Scully's room door, he kissed her again. She was prepared this time and wrapped her arms around his neck. 

There was no rush in their kisses, for them it was all about staying in that moment. 

Scully suddenly felt Something wet covering her lips and was afraid of finding blood but were Mulder's tears. Her heart broke in small pieces. She didn't want to see him like this, suffering because of her. Scully wiped his tears with her thumbs and kissed him again. 

"I want to stay with you. I don't want to leave" she said, not moving her arms from around his neck, wishing they were doing this under better circumstances. 

Mulder promised to himself, then, that he would do whatever it took to make her stay. She is not going to leave, he is not going to let her. 

**Author's Note:**

> I'm on tumblr as trustno1butacos. If you want to stop by and say something, that would be lovely.


End file.
